I exhaled. The weight of four enormous suitcases pressed on me. My arms supported them without faltering. My feet touched the rounded edges of a dull metal path. Scratches in the road gleamed in the sun and trees cast shade across the trail. Mountains towered over us, making everything seem small.
“How much longer?” I asked.
A short young woman walking ahead stopped. The sword tied to her waist swung as she turned to face me. “I don’t know, but my guess is five hours.”
“Five hours!” I exclaimed, “I like the scenery, but five hours is way too long. I’m not having a repeat of that eight hour walk we had before. We’re running.”
“Yes master,” she bowed.
I put two suitcases in each hand and took off. My legs were a pair of hydraulic pumps, strong and tireless. I skipped across the metal path faster than a cheetah, overtaking her.
A fireball hurled past me. She dashed in front of me, encased in flame. The flames shifted to her feet whenever they touched the ground, scorching the metal.
“Do you really need to do that fire thing? Can you run normally?” I said.
“I’m using a movement technique so we won’t be suspicious. But I can run without using Qi if you’d like,” she replied. The flames around her began to fade.
“I was just curious, keep using it,” I said.
I spotted a castle in the distance. The trip only took us forty minutes, compared to the five hours we would’ve taken if we walked. The castle walls brimmed with every color of the rainbow. As we got closer, I saw people walking on the castle towers. A couple held hands, looking into the surrounding green expanse and mountains. Other groups sat around tables chatting.
This was a castle, but it was also the entrance to the Endless Flame School.
The road led us to a garden to the entrance. We went back to walking, me behind my servant. Her golden robes swayed with her step, giving off a sense of luxury. Depictions of mythical creatures wrapped around her robes. A couple people turned to look at her, but never at me. My bland robes and bag carrying shoulders labeled me as the servant.
A man eyed my bags and approached us. He bowed, “Welcome to Endless Flame, may I ask your name?”
Hui Ming kept her head high, only tilting her chin to acknowledge his presence. “I’m Li Hui Ming,” she gestured at me, “This is Jin. That should be his full name on the roster.”
He pulled out a stack of papers and ruffled through them. “Thank you,” he bowed again and moved aside. Hui Ming and I walked past the gate and into a sprawling courtyard.
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Hui Ming pulled a map out of her robes. I followed her and she led us to our new place.
I ran my fingers across the stone walls leading up to the gate. My fingers bounced on the walls, happy to have found their new home. After a week of squatting in Jing’s house, I finally found somewhere to stay.
I held the gate open for Hui Ming. Our roles reversed when the gate closed. I set the suitcases on the ground and she brought them into the house. I shrouded the estate in my aura. I wasn’t angry enough to put bloodlust in it, but it was enough to smoke out any spies. I retracted the aura after a few seconds.
I reached into my robes and wrapped my hands around a polished wooden rod. My fingers searched around the bumps and knots until they found a good grip. I produced a wand about as long as my forearm. A seed came out of a hole at its tip and dropped onto my hand.
The seed was the size of a dandelion seed, but it weighed as much as a bullet. I threw it into my garden. It burst into a wave of vines, covering every inch of earth within the estate walls. I shook the stick like a salt shaker and another fifty seeds fell out. I flung them into the vines and they became spikes in midair. They hit the vines and melded with them, turning the vines into thorned vines.
I made them bury themselves underground. A few seconds later, my garden looked normal again. Of course, it only looked normal. It was now one of the most dangerous places in the city. And at the same time, it was one of the safest for me. The garden was my territory now. I rubbed my hands together, satisfied with my work.
The garden is all that’s needed in life. That, and a few seeds to cultivate. It’s all mindset after that.
One type of garden was the garden around me. To cultivate it, I would spend my time uprooting weeds and raising plants. Another type of garden might encompass the whole world. To cultivate it, I would spend my time uprooting evil organizations and raising nations.
But the garden around me was too small, and the world was too big.
This time, my garden was the Endless Flame School. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">
Vincent the Cultivator
Lv8
MP : 10000/13000
Regen : 25MP/min
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">
Control Lv10 - Subjugate lv2
Meld LvMAX
Improve Lv10 - Augment Lv6
Wither LvMAX
Identify Lv1
Program Lv10 - Bring Forth Lv1(max. 1 servant at a time)
Prolong Lv6 (max. 6 seeds at a time, 0/6 open)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Base
</td>
<td>
Equipment
</td>
<td>
Weapons
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Vines Lv21
Twentytacle Trap Lv19
Pluto Flytrap Lv12
Sticky Vines Lv10
Helium Plant Lv5
Colossus Lv 10
Solid Base Lv8
Flexible Base Lv8
</td>
<td>
Wing Attachment Nine Lv5
Flex Armour Lv5
Mesh Armour Lv5
Plate Armour Lv5
Regular Wings Lv5
</td>
<td>
Protect Lv11
Distract Lv5
Explosive Bulb Lv12
Cannon Segment Lv9
Poison Spike Lv15
Blade Lv12
Handle Lv5
Qi Detecting Flower Lv5
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Medicine
</td>
<td>
Miscellaneous
</td>
<td>
Decoration
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Boney Ginseng Lv7
Meaty Ginseng Lv7
Skinny Ginseng Lv7
Calories Lv10
Eerie Ginseng Lv7
Nosy Ginseng Lv7
Eyebally Ginseng Lv7
-
Six Petal Goldflower Lv8
King Corruption Flower Lv5
Lion Bronze Sprout Lv5
</td>
<td>
Fluffpile Lv5
Strings Lv8
Filter Sponge Lv 4
Treefather Lv 8
Myriad Flame Vine Lv11
Prison Pineapple Lv12
</td>
<td>
Night Day Flower Lv10
Glowing Pineapple Lv9
Treasure Chest Lv5
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>